Stony Brook University Medical Center Earns National Recertification As Advanced Primary Stroke Center
Designation by The Joint Commission recognizes safe, high-quality care
STONY BROOK, N.Y.
, June 8, 2011 – The Cerebrovascular & Stroke Center at Stony Brook University Medical Center has received national recertification as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center.
The distinction was conferred by The Joint Commission after a thorough review of the center, with no requirements for improvement identified. It is effective March 1 for a two-year period.
With this achievement, Stony Brook is one of 12 hospitals in New York State to earn The Joint Commission’s advanced certification. The Cerebrovascular & Stroke Center has been certified since 2004.
“Care of stroke patients is a multi-disciplinary task,” said Candice Perkins, M.D., a dedicated stroke neurologist who leads the Stroke Program and serves as Co-Director for the Cerebrovascular & Stroke Center at Stony Brook. “I am honored to work with all of the members of the stroke team; including the neuro-radiologists, the neuro-intensivists, the nurses and nurse practitioners, the stroke coordinators, the speech pathologists, the physical therapists, the occupational therapists, the social workers. It is their hard work and dedication that enables our Stroke Service to provide the finest quality stroke care.”
The Joint Commission’s certification process recognizes centers that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke care. Certification signifies that services have the critical elements to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes.
The process “is designed to help your organization continuously provide safe, high-quality care, treatment and services by identifying opportunities for improvement,” said Ann Scott Blouin, RN, PhD, Executive Vice President for Accreditation and Operations at The Joint Commission.
The stroke program at Stony Brook is ably coordinated by Ann Marie Byers, the Stroke Program Nurse Practitioner. The stroke team has a longstanding commitment to establish a higher standard of medical care for individuals afflicted with stroke. Members of the team include Laura Donarummo, M.D., Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology and dedicated stroke neurologist, Michael Guido, M.D., Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology, and Oded Gerber, M.D., Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology, in the Department of Neurology at Stony Brook University Hospital.
The Joint Commission’s Stroke Center Certification program was developed in collaboration with the American Stroke Association. It is based on the Brain Attack Coalition’s “Recommendations for the Establishment of Primary Stroke Centers.”
According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds; someone dies of a stroke every three minutes; and 795,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
About Stony Brook University Medical Center:
Stony Brook University Medical Center is Long Island’s only university-based academic medical center. It serves as the region’s only tertiary care center and Level 1 Trauma Center, and is home to the Stony Brook University Heart Center, Cancer Center, the Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital, the Institute for Advanced Neurosciences, and the Gastroenterology Program. Stony Brook provides Suffolk County’s only Level 4 Regional Perinatal Center, state-designated AIDS Center, state-designated Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, state-designated Burn Center, the Christopher Pendergast ALS Center of Excellence, and Kidney Transplant Center. It is home of the nation’s first Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center. To learn more, visit
www.stonybrookmedicalcenter.org.
